A death panel Palin is right to fear

A firm called People Operating Technology has released an iPhone app called Death Panel.

It's free and said by its makers to be "100% non-political, non-partisan" incorporating "third-party facts."

But this is still a Death Panel Sarah Palin has reason to fear.

Let's start with the game itself. You're a local politician. You're facing an angry Town Hall meeting, and have to meet their cynical questions with real facts in order to calm them down.

The "facts" are based on the text of H.R. 3962, the House version of health reform. So if you repeat facts as passed by Congress, you win. If you answer stupid with stupid you lose.

There is another reason to question the non-partisan nature of this game, which is the market.

If the Senate fails to pass a health reform bill the subject is dead, the system goes back to what it was and the Death Panel game is irrelevant by Christmas.

If something passes, however, the game is updated and, if something is signed by the President, the game becomes an important way to educate the public on what health reform means to them.

The third reason to fear this game is the name itself.

Death Panel. Sounds like something that will oppose health reform, doesn't it? Maybe you'll be an audience member who gets to pie their local Congresscritter. So you download it, and play it, and learn many of your fears aren't rational.

Every market and political incentive, in this game, is on health reform passing, and the game play encourages people to get the true facts that incline people to be more supportive of reform.

To those opposing reform, then, this is one scary game.

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com